Tag Archives: lock

Locking apps or restricting access to them on an iOS device requires jailbreak and even then, it comes with limitations. This means your apps, and the data stored in them is at risk. A cloud drive, or rather a cloud drive app is where some of our most critical data is stored and in light of how important it is to keep our files super safe, Google has released an update for Google Drive that lets you lock your files behind a a 4 digit passcode. This passcode is independent of the 4 digit passcode you might have used to bar unauthorized access to your iOS device which means that if your phone is unlocked, your files stay safe.
Read More

The sad truth about our digital life is that our notebooks, smartphones and tablets now carry an awful lot of information about us and are perfectly capable of revealing it to others unless we're careful. Emails, login details, credit card information, bank accounts – we now heavily rely our our PCs and gadgets to store all this information, but even the slightest carelessness in protecting this data from intruders can have disastrous consequences. If you often leave your computer unintended at public places or at work, others can end up looking at any information about you without even trying. Mouse Lock is a Windows application that aims to protect your PC by locking the mouse cursor at one place and not letting anyone move it in your absence. It locks the mouse with a custom password, dims down the rest of your screen, and more.
Read More

OS X allows multiple accounts to be logged in on a single Mac at the same time. You can lock a user's account, switch to another one, and come back to the first one to find all your apps and windows untouched. The functionality is all there, but it takes an unnecessary number of clicks to get to it. Unless you have an app that triggers it, OS X can’t be locked with a keyboard shortcut; the easiest way to access the ‘Lock Screen’ option is by enabling Keychain's icon to appear in the Menu Bar. In that case, it takes two clicks to lock your screen. If you want the Switch User screen to appear instead of your own user profile already selected and ready to log in, you have to click the ‘Switch User’ option at the bottom of your lock screen. For something so simple and frequently used, this is a lot of clicks. MacLoc is a free Mac App that makes it slightly easier; it locks your screen and switches to the ‘Switch User’ option for you so that you don't have to do it yourself.
Read More

Lending your iPhone to a colleague for a round of Fruit Ninja might not be much of an issue for the most part, but you don’t want them to be able to access your private texts and photos. Putting a passcode lock on the entire phone is certainly not gong to do any good in this scenario, since you need something that can password-protect individual apps while leaving the rest of the device accessible. For obvious reasons, you won’t find such an app in the App Store, but Cydia has some pretty good options for this purpose. Personally, I use a Cydia tweak called AppLocker, which is quite comprehensive and has options for locking both apps and folders. However, it costs $0.99 and takes some time to configure. Icon Passcode, on the other hand, couldn’t be simpler. This free tweak can be used to put a four-digit passcode not only on apps, but also on the App Switcher tray, which sets it apart from its competitors.
Read More

Keeping important files hidden from other PC users is very important, especially if your job includes protecting sensitive information from unauthorized usage. Although you can quickly protect your data by encrypting the entire disk, it often takes quite a while to manually decrypt each file to gain read and write access. Another method that most users use is zipping important files in a password protected archive, but that means you have to unzip it every time you want to use a file from the zipped folder. Wasting all this time just to secure some files doesn’t seem practical, does it? If you are looking for an application that allows you to quickly secure and hide confidential data, try Secure Bin out. This portable application allows you to easily password-protect files, and access them from a secured dashboard. Unlike other file security utilities, it lets you set different passwords for each file or folder. However, you can also choose to unlock all protected files with a single master password. More after the jump.
Read More

Security may be equally important for everyone, but not everyone treats it as seriously as they should. While some people just don’t believe they have anything to a hide or no reason for anyone wanting to gain access to their personal files, it is no excuse to not protect your important data. For those that aren’t jumping at the latest military range defense and security systems, but would like to enable some level of security, the first place you can start is your Mac. There are people who are in the compulsive habit of locking their screens even if they bend down to tie a shoe lace while others are often forgetful of doing this simple little task to secure their systems. Bluetooth Screen Lock is a Mac app worth $0.99 that relieves you of the responsibility to lock your screen. The app lets you associate any Bluetooth enabled device with your Mac and when the device is no longer in range, it locks your screen.
Read More

If your computer contains sensitive files, you can protect them using the default Windows user protection or other PC locking software. It will lock down your entire computer, and anyone without a password will not be able to access it. However, if you have to share your computer a lot, telling your password to other people and changing it every time can be a bit annoying. Other than that, you will also have to remain around the person to ensure that they are not going near your personal files. There are a lot of paid tools out there that allow you to take care of sensitive information stored in files and folders, but free security tools either don’t have the complete set of options or are limited in the number of files or folders that they can lock. MTE Folder Locker is an application for Windows that allows you to lock your personal and sensitive files and folders with a password. You can also create encrypted archives of multiple files. More on MTE Folder Locker after the jump.
Read More

If you wish to secure your favorite Android apps using facial recognition, then the previously reviewed Visidon AppLock is probably an ideal option for you. New to the Google Play Store, FaceLock is yet another handy app based on said concept that lets you unlock protected apps using the facial recognition mechanism. You can opt to include as many apps under the protection umbrella as you like, and unlock the required one via FaceLock. That’s not all; the app also supports the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-style Face Unlock feature that helps you unlock your Android’s screen via facial recognition. To further enhance your device’s security, and to add an additional layer of protection as a backup to facial recognition, you can also specify an alternative unlocking method. FaceLock supports working with front-facing as well as rear camera, and lets you set up the protection mechanism with utmost ease. In addition, the app provides you with several customization features, so that you can modify its looks and functionality as desired. FaceLock requires Android OS v2.3 (Gingerbread) or higher to run.
Read More

We’ve been covering lockscreen apps for Mac a lot this month, and each app that we’ve covered had its own special feature that set it apart. Lock Your Screen is a Mac app worth $3.99 in the Mac app store, and it literally has everything you could possibly want in a lockscreeen app. In addition to adding a clock, a custom background, iTunes controls, and three different ways of setting a password, the app also lets you add a password hint (feature available by default in Windows 7), lock your system via keyboard shortcut and disable the Sleep function. You can draw passwords either freehand or in a nine dot grid, both of which are set using the mouse and no trackpad is required. Additionally, the app will let you dim the screen when the screensaver is enabled, set the app to enable the screensaver if the system has been idle, and define Work, Movie or Presentation modes, so that the app does not mistake the system to be idle when it is not. Impressed? Read on to discover more.
Read More

We’ve covered a few lockscreen apps for Mac this month, out of which Screensavery and Screensaver+ Free are worth mentioning. Lockscreens may not be a very popular concept when it comes to a desktop system or even on Mac, still, Screen Vault is a Mac app worth $4.99 in the Mac App Store that is bound to change your mind. It comes as close to the lockscreen you’re used to seeing for smartphones, as possible. The app lets you lock and unlock your screen either by drawing a pattern or using your trackpad to enter a combination for the vault-like lock. It additionally lets you add system information to the lockscreen, snap pictures whenever someone enters an incorrect password, and customize every bit of the theme that you want.
Read More

Last month we covered Screensaver +, a Mac app that adds an iOS like lockscreen to your Mac. The app was worth $1.99 and has been updated with new features. Screensavery is an app worth $2.99 featured just last week that allowed you to lock your screen with one of three different types of passwords, including a drawn out pattern entered via your trackpad. Screensaver + Free is the free version of Screensaver+, and it, too, allows you to lock/unlock your screen by drawing a pattern across a nine dot grid. The difference, other than that it is free, is that it allows you to draw the pattern simply with your mouse, no trackpad required. The paid version of this app has been upgraded with this feature as well, and is still available at its previously reviewed price tag.
Read More

If you have privacy concerns and want to limit access to the Firefox menu bar, then Hide Your Menubar, a Firefox add-on, can be of great help. This is a simple, but useful, tool that locks the menu bar with a simple click on an option in the context menu. Once you’ve locked it, the next time you launch Firefox and click an option in the menu bar, Firefox will ask you for a password. To unlock this bar, simply enter the password and gain access. You should note that the menu bar stays locked as long as you don’t unlock it. It increases privacy and prevents other users from accessing your history, bookmarks and other private browsing data.
Read More

You can lock or unlock your Mac with a simple alphanumeric password. By default, there are no keyboard shortcuts that will allow you to quickly lock your screen. While such a shortcut can be added, it is a bit of a long process, and that is why an app like Lock Me Now exists. While this app provides an easy way to create a shortcut for locking your screen, ScreenSavery is a Mac app worth $2.99 in the Mac store that does all this and more. The app essentially does three things; adds animated screensavers to your Mac, lets you lock your screen with a keyboard shortcut, and lets you set up passwords in one of three ways. Passwords can be set the traditional way (alphanumeric passwords), they can be set up as a four digit number to be entered via a trackpad, or a swipe pattern that you have to draw on a nine dotted grid.
Read More

Not everyone likes to have a master password, PIN or pattern lock applied to their smartphones at all times. It becomes quite tiresome if a friend is playing around with your Android phone, and you have to enter the unlock code every time the screen times out. Then again, you might not want your SMS threads, gallery, Play Store, email and social networking apps unprotected while one of your mischievous friends is, as he/she says, playing Fruit Ninja on your phone. It is in such situations that apps like AppLock for Android come in handy.
The app lets you lock individual user and system apps with a PIN or pattern of your choice. The concept isn’t new to Android at all. A much older app with the same name (App Lock – App Protector) and previously reviewed Visidon AppLock are based on the same functionality. In fact, the latter even provides the option to set a face recognition lock for individual apps. However, when it comes to looks and simplicity, AppLock races ahead of the two aforementioned (and most other) alternatives. If you’re setting an authentication screen to appear every time you launch a particular app, you’d probably prefer if it were easy on the eyes. That’s not all; the app even lets you PIN/pattern protect incoming calls.
Read More

One thing that has always annoyed me while using Windows Phone 7, is the lack of an iOS-like orientation lock in the Mango platform. This oversight really comes to haunt users when they are trying to use the device while lying down on a couch, as the screen will keep rotating unnecessarily, and there is no way of stopping it. Microsoft has still not added that setting in their mobile OS, but fortunately for Samsung and LG users having an interop unlocked WP7 device, they can now get the much-needed functionality via the freshly released homebrew named Accelerometer Disabler. The Homebrew app does not come with too many complicated toggles, but that is still not as good or as convenient as having a hardware button for locking the orientation of your device's screen. Still, it is the first option of its kind that is available for Mango users.
Read More

Annoyed by those accidental touches on your Android device's screen that halt your progress while enjoying videos/movies, playing motion sensor-based games, or while wiping dust off it? If your answer is yes, then what you need is No Touch, a free Android app that allows you to block control through touch. The app sports multiple ways to help you prevent triggering controls via accidental touches, the simplest of them all being a tiny little button at the bottom-right of the screen that can be tapped to toggle between blocking and unblocking.
Read More

Amid the mishmash of all the various Android applications that let you protect your favorite apps on device either via password, PIN or by hiding them from view, if you’re still in a fix over finding an effective solution, then here’s a handy alternative called Ultimate App Guard. The app boasts as many as 7 different alternative locking techniques for all your apps (including system apps), multiple customizable lock profiles (with an option to add multiple apps of your liking in each), a scheduling mechanism to lock/unlock apps at specified time periods, a nifty little homescreen widget (or rather switch) that lets you quickly toggle all locks with a single tap, option to unlock all apps when unlocking a particular app and facility to specify a validity period (or rule) that keeps an app unlocked.
Read More

Private Video is an app for Windows Phone 7 which brings some much-needed area-specific privacy options to the Mango version of the metro platform. Most people aren’t big fans of the all-in-one password lock on WP7 which prevents anyone from accessing the phone through the lock screen. But not everyone requires the complete lockdown of their phone all the time. For instance, you might just want your Messaging hub to be password-protected while your friend plays Angry Birds on the phone. With Mango, these selective protection apps are finally making their way to the Marketplace (like the Content Shield app we covered a few days ago). Private Video is another example of this functionality. Using this free app, you can shoot videos that you want to store privately, under password protection.
Read More

Back in August, we released Bitlocker Drives Unlocker to unlock all BitLocker drives without having to unlock them one by one manually. Today, we are releasing version 1.2 of BitLocker Drives Unlocker, also called BLDU. Apart from some under the hood changes and code improvement, it includes two drive locking options; Lock and Lock All. Now you can lock all of your BitLocker drives which have been unlocked, without going through the hassle of locking them one by one using manage-bde lock command in Windows Command Prompt.
Read More

There was a time when you couldn’t delete albums on your iPhone without having to connect it to iTunes. iOS has come a long way since that, and so has the Photos app and its options. Now, the focus is more on convenience and somewhat less on security. This has lead to the rather prominent placement of the delete button for photos, which is more of double edged sowrd. While it solves the old problem of not being able to delete photos on your iDevice, it may also lead you to accidentally delete your photos, or if you have got children (and annoying friends), they might delete your photos just for fun. To counter such casual intruders, you don’t need to bar your Photos with complicated passwords and pattern locks; all you need is something like PhotoProtect. This Cydia tweak will let you set up a pop up message that will show up every time someone tries to delete a photo.
Read More

Readers Activity

Topics

Authors

Daily articles in your inbox each day for free

About Addictivetips

AddictiveTips is a tech blog focused on helping users find simple solutions to their everyday problems. We review the best desktop, mobile and web apps and services out there, in addition to useful tips and guides for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Read more...